KYOGO FURUHASHI ended his international exile when he came on as a 77th minute substitute in Japan’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over China in Xiamen this afternoon.
The Celtic striker had been overlooked by manager Hajime Moriyasu for recent matches but made a welcome reappearance on this occasion as he replaced two-goal Koki Ogawa.
Kyogo, who was left on the bench during last week’s 4-0 victory against Indonesia, got a 20-minute work-out with the game going into seven minutes of stoppage-time.
The 29-year-old frontman was joined late in the match by his Hoops team-mate Daizen Maeda who came on with 13 minutes to go while Reo Hatate was an unused sub.
Japan, who have qualified for the last seven World Cup Finals, are now on 16 points in their section, 10 points ahead of Australia.
Kyogo and Co will hope to be involved when their country are at home to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in their next fixtures in March.
